Disposable toothbrush and method of making the same

ABSTRACT

A DISPOSABLE TOOTHBRUSH FORMED FROM A SHEET OF PAPER OR PLASTIC MATERIAL ROLLED OR FOLDED INTO A ELONGATED BODY AND PACKED IN A CONTAINER SIMILAR TO A CIGARETTE PACKAGE. A DEFORMABLE PIN IS EMBEDDED IN THE SHEET MATERIAL TO HOLD THE BRISTLES AT ONE AXIAL END OF THE ELONGATED BODY AT AN ANGLE TO THE HANDLE PORTION WHEN THE BODY IS BENT AT A LOCATION SPACED FROM THE BRISTLES. THE BRISTLES MAY BE COATED WITH A NORMALLY DRY DENTIFRICE WHICH IS WATER SOLUBLE AND ACTIVATED WHEN WETTED.

1971 F. w. SLATER 3,609,789

DISPOSABLE TOOTHBRUSH AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Original Filed Jan.29, 1968 Fig 3 6B/ank 30 Handle Frank W. S/afer Fig.5 j" 26 UnitedStates Patent O1 Hoe 3,609,789 Patented Oct. 5, 1971 DISPOSABLETOOTHBRUSH AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Frank W. Slater, 1126 E.Maryland,

Phoenix, Ariz. 85014 Continuation of application Ser. No. 701,241, Jan.29, 1968. This application Jan. 12, 1970, Ser. No. 1,978 Int. Cl. A46b/02 U.S. Cl. 104.94 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A disposabletoothbrush formed from a sheet of paper or plastic material rolled orfolded into an elongated body and packed in a container similar to acigarette package. A deformable pin is embedded in the sheet material tohold the bristles at one axial end of the elongated body at an angle tothe handle portion when the body is bent at a location spaced from thebristles. The bristles may be coated with a normally dry dentifricewhich is water soluble and activated when wetted.

This is a continuation of Ser. No. 701,241, filed Jan. 29, 1968, nowabandoned.

This invention relates to a new and improved disposable sheet paper orplastic toothbrush having a bristled head with self-contained watersoluble dentifrice and has to do with (l) the expedient method-of-makingsteps and (2) the novel and structurally distinct brush. 1

Anyone conversant with the art to which this invention relates is awarethat many patents relating to single use sanitary disposabletoothbrushes have been devised for use but for one reason or anotherhave apparently not met with widespread adoption, or acceptable use. Itis the general object here to provide a brush which is believed to havethe features and attending capabilities which will comply with neededmanufacturing procedures, one that can be unqualifie'dly endorsed foruse by retailers, dentists and others and which, more importantly, willmeet the needs of users from all walks of life.

Briefly, the brush hereinafter comprehended is an innovation and acontribution to the art in that a pre-cut rectangular piece or blank ofsuitably rollable paper or sheet plastic is rolled to form a tightcylindrical body or primary portion which provides an appropriate handleand a shank at the outer or forward end of the handle. That end whichterminates adjacent the leading end of the shank is shredded or slittedand, when the ribbon-like components are bunched, they provide abristled brush head. These bristles are sprayed, dipped, or otherwisecoated with an appropriate water soluble toothpaste or dentifrice andwhen wetted and brushed against the users teeth the desired brushing andcleansing step can be aptly achieved. The sequential method-of-makingsteps also constitute a significant aspect of the over-all inventiveconcept and are to be construed accordingly.

The shank is manually or otherwise squeezed to provide diametricallyopposite reinforcing finger-grips. Then, too, a short non-corrodiblebendable and malleable pin is attached to an edge of the top surface ofthe blank preparatory to rolling and is progressively wrapped to theaxial center point Where it extends through the shank,

joins the head, shank and handle, and is susceptible of being bent byhand to assume a stay-put position, whereby to set the brush head at adesirably usable oblique angle.

Novelty is also predicated on the aforementioned reinforced but bendableshank and, in addition, on that aspect of the concept whereindiametrically opposite portions of the shank are provided with concavedsurface portions which are squeezed together to reduce thecrosssectional dimension of the shank and to provide fingergrips andalso to facilitate bending the shank from its normal straight positionto the position required in order to dispose the brush head at thedesired oblique angle.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperations as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of the complete readyto-use toothbrush,that is, before the brushhead has been angled to a more desirableposition for use.

FIG. 2 is also a view in perspective based on FIG. 1 and showing thebristled brushhead bent to a suitable angle and which may be varied ifdesired.

FIG. 3 is a central longitudinal sectional view taken approximately onthe plane of the section line 33 of FIG. 2, looking in the direction ofthe arrows.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the paper or plastic blank or sheet fromwhich the complete ready-to-use toothbrush is constructed.

FIG. 5 is a view in perspective of the reinforcing insert or pin.

Keeping in mind the method and article aspects of the over-all conceptattention is first invited to FIG. 4 wherein the numeral 6 designates anappropriately elongate substantially rectangular blank of sheetmaterial. This material may be a suitable grade of rollable paper or, ifthe manufacturer prefers, plastic material such as lends itself to themethod of manufacture desired. One transverse edge or marginal portionis denoted at 8, one lengthwise marginal edge at 10 and the spacedparallel second lengthwise marginal edge at 12. These edges 10 and 12are herein designated as first and second edges. The entire transverseend portion 14 at the left is slitted or shredded to define amultiplicity of flexible bristles 16 ranging from the connected endportions 18 to their free tip portions 21. It will be evident from thisview alone that the sequential method steps can be carried out totransform the blank or sheet progressively and in a manner to providethe finished ready-to-use brush. An important feature and also involvedin the method-of-manufacture is the reinforcing insert, morespecifically, the elongated bendable pin 20. This pin is laid proximaland parallel to the edge portion 22, and adhesively or otherwiseattached so that it has one end 24 terminating short of the line of thebrush bristles 18 so as not to interfere therewith and the other end 26so located that the desired rolling and shank forming step can beexpeditiously and reliably accomplished.

In practice the pin-equipped blank 6 is rolled or coiled round and roundupon itself beginning with the first lengthwise edge 10 and moving thereinforcing pin 20 from its initial to its final stage as illustrated inFIG. 3. The properly rolled and shredded sheet provides the main bodyportion of an appropriate but relatively short handle. The second edgeportion 12 is fastened in place in any suitable manner.

Considering both the method steps and also the finished ready-to-usebrush it will be evident that the portion between the forward end of thehandle and the bristled head constitutes a connecting shank 28, that is,an appropriate connection between the handle 30 and bristled brushheadwhich is formed from the aforementioned slitted end portion and isaccordingly again referred to here by the numeral 14. The shank isprovided with diametrically opposite concave portions 32 which aresubstantially as long as the shank 28 and which provide convenientlyusable fingergrips and also reduce the cross-sectional dimension of theshank 28. In the finished 3 product one end portion 34 of the pin isanchored in the forward end portion of the handle 30. The other halfportion 36 is axially terminated in the shank 28 and is slightly shortof the line 18 determing the length of the fiexible bristles.

It is within the purview of the concept to spray, dip or coat all of thebristles with an appropriate toothpaste which is allowed to dry but isWater soluble when wetted.

It follows that a simple pin-equipped rectangular shredded blank of thetype illustrated in FIG. 4 is expeditiously transformed in astep-by-step manner to provide the end product, that is the normallystraight readyto-use disposable toothbrush illustrated in FIG. 1. Inactual practice the ready-for-use brushes will be stacked in anappropriate package similar, for example, to a package containingcigarettes (not shown).

It is reiterated that the reinforcing pin is of requisite length andcross-section and is manually bendable and is made from ductile ormalleable material with the result that the normal brush which isstraight as shown in FIG. 1 with the bristles 16 substantially parallelto the longitudinal axis of the handle 30, can be manually bent so thatthe end portions stay put in the manner shown in FIG. 3 with thebristles at an obtuse angle to the longitudinal axis of the handle toprovide the ready-touse brush of FIG. 2.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. The method of making a single use disposable toothbrush consisting inproviding an elongated blank of readily rollable sheet material ofpredetermined size and shape in plan, uniformly slitting and shreddingone transverse end portion of said sheet in a manner to provide amultiplicity of ribbon-like flexible brush bristles, rolling andwrapping said slitted sheet round and round upon itself and fasteningone free longitudinal edge portion in a manner to provide a coiledcylinder and to (l) transform the slitted end portion into a bristledbrushing head (2) to transform the main body portion into a handle andto (3) provide a junctional connecting shank between said head andhandle respectively, pinching and squeezing said shank at diametricallyopposite places to decrease the cross-sectional dimension of the shankand to form opposed concave fingergrips and finally, bending the shankto position the head at a readily usable angle relative to the axis ofthe handle.

2. The method steps defined in and according to claim 1, and, inaddition, the step of inserting a relatively short malleable andbendable pin which functions as a core and which is caused by properplacement and retention to reach from the handle to the bristled headthereby to axially bridge the shank.

3. The method steps set forth in claim 2, and wherein the inserted andself-retained pin is optionally bent midway between its ends to assumeand maintain a longitudinally bowed state, whereby to set and hold thehead at whatever oblique angle is desired.

4. The method steps set forth in claim 1, and wherein said bristles arecoated with normally dry but water soluble dentifrice which is readiedfor use When wetted by a user.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a pocket-size single-use tothbrushwhich is readied for use when wetted disposable sheet material, one endportion of said rolled piece of sheet material being provided with amultiplicity of flimsy narrow ribbon-like bristles which are clusteredand bunched together and defining, a bristled applicator head, the majorportion of said piece of sheet material constituting a relatively shorthandle, and a shank between and joining said applicator head and handle,said head extending angularly relative to the longitudinal axis of saidhandle, said shank being compressed by squeezing in a manner to providediametrically opposed arcuate finger grips and to reduce and minimizethe cross-sectional dimension of said shank.

6. The toothbrush defined in and according to claim 5, and, incombination, a reinforcing head angling and setting pin embodied in saidshank with end portions projecting into the head and handle,respectively.

'7. The toothbrush defined in and according to claim 6, and wherein saidpin is made of bendable but stayput malleable material and is capable ofbeing manually bent and longitudinally bowed to assume a desiredcurvature and to locate the brush head at an angle most suitable foruse.

8. The toothbrush defined in and according to claim 7, and wherein theribbon-like bristles are all fully coated with a normally dry watersoluble toothpaste which is activated for use when wetted.

9. A toothbrush made of sheet material comprising an elongated handleportion formed from a plurality of layers of said sheet material, saidlayers of sheet material being extended at an angle to the handleportion terminating in an applicator head portion longitudinally slit toform bristles, and reinforcing means embedded in a shank portion betweensaid layers of sheet material for maintaining said angle between thehandle and head portions, said reinforcing means including a curved pinextending only through the shank portion between the handle and headportions in longitudinally spaced relation to the bristles.

10. A method of making a toothbrush from a single blank of sheetmaterial having a handle portion and a slitted end portion, comprisingthe steps of: forming said blank into an elongated body of layers withthe slitted end portion forming bristles substantially parallel to thelongitudinal axis of the handle portion; embedding a bendablereinforcing element between said layers spaced from the slitted endportion to reinforce a shank portion between the slitted end portion andsaid handle portion; and bending the shank portion to deform thereinforcing element thereby holding the bristles at an angle to thelongitudinal axis of the handle portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 759,490 5/1904 Yates 15--1432,254,365 9/1941 Griffith et al. 15-172 X 2,750,614 6/1956 Collins etal. 2,813,286 11/1957 Strader.

DANIEL BLUM, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

